Oscar® Winners Yuh-Jung Youn, Daniel Kaluuya and Frances McDormand backstage during the live ABC Telecast of The 93rd Oscars® at Union Station in Los Angeles, CA on Sunday, April 25, 2021. (Photo courtesy Matt Petit / A.M.P.A.S. via Sipa USA) *** Mandatory Credit *** Editorial Use Only ***
CA: 93rd Annual Academy Awards
New York, NY (WABC-77)- The 2021 Academy Awards was a memorable night for all the wrong reasons. After postponing the show by two months due to COVID-19, one would have thought the Academy had a theme or plan in mind for pushing the show back to April. Alas, it was truly 3 hours of nonsense; long speeches, no entertainment, and terrible decor. This is coming from someone who LIVES for Award Shows. Technically, we are at the tail end of a pandemic, so the Academy did the best they could given the current climate of the world…
Some highlights:
1)The FASHION and RED CARPET. After being quarantined for almost a year, celebrities brought their ‘A-Game’ when it came to wardrobe. Best dressed of the night for me was Carey Mulligan (nominated for Best Actress) and Riz Ahmed (nominated for Best Actor). The fact that there actually WAS a red carpet was a huge plus! Celebrities were being interviewed 6-10 ft. away from the hosts.
2) The return of Bong Joon Ho and his translator Sharon Choi. After sweeping awards season last year, Bong Joon Ho introduced the nominees for Best Director, but not without his beloved translator, Sharon Choi. Both Sharon and ‘Bonghive’ became fan favorites last year after the film ‘Parasite’ made Oscars history.
3) Emerald Fennell winning best original screenplay. ‘Promising Young Woman’ was a favorite of mine this year, even though it had no chance of winning Best Picture. It was thrilling to see a female win this award, and even more thrilling that this film gained some recognition.
4) Daniel Kaluuya thanking his parents during his speech. Daniel Kaluuya took home the award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ and seemed to lose many of us during his long acceptance speech…until he thanked his parents for having sex to create him! We all woke up after he said that!
5) Glenn Close doing ‘DA BUTT dance’. Maybe she missed out on winning an Oscar for the 8th time; Glenn was certainly a clear winner of the night after doing DA BUTT dance with Tyler Perry (referencing the song from the 1988 Spike Lee film, School Daze).
As for the rest of the show…yikes. The end of the Oscars was completely hectic; for whatever reason, they decided to announce the Best Actor Category last (versus Best Picture). I was THRILLED that Anthony Hopkins won, but not thrilled they decided to cut to commercial without any kind of speech. What was that?! Additionally, speeches seemed to be very long this year- what happened to cutting these guys off?! The show needed some entertainment- skits, songs, anything! I can appreciate the fact that we are still in a pandemic, but MTV made the Video Music Awards entertaining, and that was BEFORE the vaccine.
Lastly, the fact that ‘Nomadland’ won for Best Picture really makes me question The Academy. It may have been the most boring film of 2021. It’s very promising that so many women and people of color were honored and recognized last night; however ‘Nomadland’ is the perfect movie to watch if you need a nap. Sorry Chloe Zhao, I’m still happy for you!
Full List of Winners Below:
Best Picture
“Nomadland” — Winner
“The Father”
“Judas and the Black Messiah”
“Mank”
“Minari”
“Promising Young Woman”
“Sound of Metal”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Best Director
Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland” — Winner
Thomas Vinterberg, “Another Round”
David Fincher, “Mank”
Lee Isaac Chung, “Minari”
Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”
Actress in a Leading Role
Frances McDormand, “Nomadland” — Winner
Viola Davis, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Andra Day, “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”
Vanessa Kirby, “Pieces of a Woman”
Carey Mulligan, “Promising Young Woman”
Actor in a Leading Role
Anthony Hopkins, “The Father” — Winner
Riz Ahmed, “Sound of Metal”
Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Gary Oldman, “Mank”
Steven Yeun, “Minari”
Actress in a Supporting Role
Yuh-jung Youn, “Minari” — Winner
Maria Bakalova, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”
Glenn Close, “Hillbilly Elegy”
Olivia Colman, “The Father”
Amanda Seyfried, “Mank”
Actor in a Supporting Role
Daniel Kaluuya, “Judas and the Black Messiah” — Winner
Sacha Baron Cohen, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Leslie Odom Jr., “One Night in Miami…”
Paul Raci, “Sound of Metal”
LaKeith Stanfield, “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Original Song
“Fight For You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah” — Winner
“Hear My Voice” from “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
“Husavik” from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”
“lo Sì (Seen)” from “The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)”
“Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami…”
Animated Feature Film
“Soul” — Winner
“Onward”
“Over the Moon”
“A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon”
“Wolfwalkers”
Makeup and Hairstyling
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” — Winner
“Emma.”
“Hillbilly Elegy”
“Mank”
“Pinocchio”
Visual Effects
“Tenet” — Winner
“Love and Monsters”
“The Midnight Sky”
“Mulan”
“The One and Only Ivan”
Cinematography
“Mank” — Winner
“Judas and the Black Messiah”
“News of the World”
“Nomadland”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Film Editing
“Sound of Metal” — Winner
“The Father”
“Nomadland”
“Promising Young Woman”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Production Design
“Mank” — Winner
“The Father”
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
“News of the World”
“Tenet”
Sound
“Sound of Metal” — Winner
“Greyhound”
“Mank”
“News of the World”
“Soul”
International Feature Film
Denmark, “Another Round” — Winner
Hong Kong, “Better Days”
Romania, “Collective”
Tunisia, “The Man Who Sold His Skin”
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Quo Vadis, Aida?”
Documentary Short Subject
“Colette” — Winner
“A Concerto Is a Conversation”
“Do Not Split”
“Hunger Ward”
“A Love Song for Latasha”
Documentary Feature
“My Octopus Teacher” — Winner
“Collective”
“Crip Camp”
“The Mole Agent”
“Time”
Live Action Short Film
“Two Distant Strangers” — Winner
“Feeling Through”
“The Letter Room”
“The Present”
“White Eye”
Animated Short Film
“If Anything Happens I Love You” — Winner
“Burrow”
“Genius Loci”
“Opera”
“Yes-People”
Original Screenplay
Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman” — Winner
Screenplay by Will Berson and Shaka King; story by Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenny Lucas and Keith Lucas, “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Lee Isaac Chung, “Minari”
Screenplay by Darius Marder and Abraham Marder; story by Darius Marder and Derek Cianfrance, “Sound of Metal”
Aaron Sorkin, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Adapted Screenplay
Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller, “The Father” — Winner
Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman and Lee Kern; story by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer and Nina Pedrad, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”
Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland”
Kemp Powers, “One Night in Miami…”
Ramin Bahrani, “The White Tiger”
Original Score
“Soul” — Winner
“Da 5 Bloods”
“Mank”
“Minari”
“News of the World”
Costume Design
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” — Winner
“Emma.”
“Mank”
“Mulan”
“Pinocchio”
